Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kgaogelo Ramushu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 15 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Polokwane City can tell you which week it ends in.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Polokwane City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Warona Medupe and Polokwane City agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Polokwane City will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Polokwane City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Brian Bwire, and the manager let it.
The dugout5 Nov 2029
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Francis Baloyi has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 65 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Simon Ramabu and Polokwane City agree another 4 years.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 9 actions, 6.88, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
The dugout8 Oct 2029
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Interim Coach left the room before anybody could ask which.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Polokwane City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Polokwane City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kgaogelo Ramushu and Polokwane City agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Interim Coach after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 118 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Monty Batlhabane was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Themba Zungu and Polokwane City agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Nobody at Polokwane City will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Brian Bwire signs something — a contract at Polokwane City or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Sibusiso Tshabalala has written the date down.
Monty Batlhabane was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Words at Polokwane City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brian Bwire is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Sibusiso Tshabalala. 1‑0 against SuperSport United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sabelo Motsa, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Feb 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Lebogang Phiri kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Polokwane City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
1‑3 to Bloemfontein Celtic, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Words at Polokwane City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brian Bwire is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Lebogang Phiri after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Nobody at Polokwane City will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Sibusiso Tshabalala trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Polokwane City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Polokwane City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Sabelo Motsa falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Lebogang Phiri chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Polokwane City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Nobody at Polokwane City will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
98 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Polokwane City lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Polokwane City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Polokwane City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Monty Batlhabane is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Polokwane City had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Atalanta, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Polokwane City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Polokwane City have made the call to Santos. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Sabelo Motsa's mistake
105 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Polokwane City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Polokwane City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Polokwane City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Napoli is saying, and nobody at Polokwane City is enjoying the guessing.
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kaizer Chiefs have kept their man, and Polokwane City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Atletico Nacional have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Polokwane City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Polokwane City will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Polokwane City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Polokwane City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Polokwane City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Words at Polokwane City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brian Bwire is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Leiria have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout26 Jun 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Sabelo Motsa's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Polokwane City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Polokwane City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Polokwane City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Polokwane City have done the hard part with Potenza, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Racing Club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Monty Batlhabane was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Argentinos Juniors have kept their man, and Polokwane City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Sabelo Motsa falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Chacarita Juniors have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
56 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Polokwane City lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Polokwane City will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lebohang Nkaki will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Polokwane City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Polokwane City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout29 May 2028
Sabelo Motsa is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Giovanni Philander is on it.
The words a physio says slowly. 71 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Polokwane City will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad15 May 2028
Brian Bwire falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Tlou Nkwe was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The words a physio says slowly. 20 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Polokwane City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ayabonga Gwangqa commits to Polokwane City for another 4 years.
Squad8 May 2028
Brian Bwire falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Polokwane City know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
27 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Polokwane City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Polokwane City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Polokwane City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sabelo Motsa, and the manager let it.
The dugout1 May 2028
Sabelo Motsa is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Nobody at Polokwane City will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
58 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Polokwane City lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Polokwane City will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Polokwane City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Polokwane City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Brian Bwire was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ayabonga Gwangqa, and the manager let it.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
Sabelo Motsa is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Nobody at Polokwane City will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
86 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Polokwane City lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lebohang Nkaki will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Polokwane City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Rodney Maphangule and Polokwane City agree another 3 years.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Brian Bwire falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout6 Mar 2028
Sabelo Motsa is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Giovanni Philander is on it.
The words a physio says slowly. 100 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
0‑3 to SuperSport United, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Polokwane City may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Brian Bwire falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Tlou Nkwe was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The words a physio says slowly. 114 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The clubs have shaken hands with Chippa United; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 5 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Polokwane City asked and Atlético Tucumán said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Golden Arrows left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Sabelo Motsa falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.